Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-08T23:46:47.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Quaternary Glacial and Climatic History of Northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gifford H. Miller
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radiocarbon dates on molluses in marine facies associated with glacial deposits in northern Cumberland Peninsula indicate both main fiord (Laurentide) ice and local glaciers remained at their late Wisconsin maxima until ca. 8000 BP. Essentially continuous deglaciation followed; local corrie glaciers melted out by 7100 BP and by 5500 BP fiord glaciers had receded behind the present margin of the Penny Ice Cap. The Hypsithermal warm interval probably lasted from ca. 8000 to 5000 BP. Lichenometry and radiocarbon dates on peat and buried organic horizons delimit a detailed Neoglacial chronology. Of 46 outlet and corrie glaciers investigated, the oldest Neoglacial moraines are dated lichenometrically at 3200 ± 600 BP. Subsequent advances terminated immediately prior to ca. 1650, 780, 350, and 65 yr BP, the most recent of which marked the most extensive ice coverage during the Neoglacial. The highest occurrence of lateral moraines from late Wisconsin advances of local and Laurentide ice suggest that at the late Wisconsin glacial maximum, depression of snowline varied from 450 m below present at the coast to 350 m below present level in the vicinity of the Penny Ice Cap. Moraines, surrounded by glacial ice and lying above the present steady-state ELA, suggest that during the Hypsithermal snowline was up to ca. 200 m above its present elevation. A radiometrically controlled reconstruction of relative summer paleotemperatures for the postglacial derived independently of lichenometry agrees well with the lichenometric age dating of moraines. The data suggest that between ca. 1650 and 900 BP climatic conditions were unfavorable for glacier growth, whereas the period ca. 800-65 yr BP was one of general glacial activity. During the last decade permanent snow cover has been increasing in the area. Previously reported data on climatic trends in the Canadian Arctic based on palynological analyses are similar to the chronology reported here.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , December 1973 , pp. 561 - 583
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Part IX in a series dealing with the Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada.

References

Andrews, J.T., (1970)Differential crustal recovery and glacial chronology (6,700 to 0 BP) West Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research 2, 115–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, J.T., (1972)Recent and fossil growth rates of marine bivalves, Canadian Aretic and late-Quaternary Arctic marine environments. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 11, 157–176.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Barry, R.G., (1972)Present and paleo-climatic influences on the glacierization and deglacierization of Comberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Chapter 6. INSTAAR Occasional Paper No. 2 University of Colorado Boulder.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Barry, R.G., Bradley, R.S., Miller, G.H., Williams, L.D., (1972)Past and present glaciological responses to climate in eastern Baffin Island. Quaternary Research 2, 303–314.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Buckley, J.T., England, J.H., (1970)Late-glacial chronology and glacio-isostatic recovery, Home Bay, east Baffin Island, Canada. Geological Society of America Bulletin 81, 1123–1148.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Ives, J.D., (1972)Late- and Post-Glacial events (<10,000 BP) in the eastern Canadian Arctic with particular reference to the Cockburn moraines and break-up of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Vasani, Hyvarinen, Climatic Change in Arctic Areas During the Last 10,000 Years Oulu Finland 149–174.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Mears, A., Miller, G.H., Pheasant, D.R., (1972)Holocene late glacial maximum and marine transgression (≤8,000 BP) in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Nature Physical Science 239, 147–149.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Miller, G.H., (1972a)Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada: Part IV: maps of the present glaciation limits and lowest equilibrium line altitude for north and south Baffin Island. Arctic and Alpine Research 4, 45–59.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Miller, G.H., (1972b)The Quaternary history of the northern Cumberland Peninsula, east Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Part X: radiocarbon date list. Arctic and Alpine Research 4, 261–277.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Webber, P.J., (1964)A lichenometric study of the northwestern margin of the Barnes Ice Cap: a geomorphological technique. Geographical Bulletin 22, 80–104.Google Scholar
Barr, W., (1971)Postglacial isostatic movement in northern Devon Island: a reappraisal. Arctic 24, 249–268.Google Scholar
Benedict, J.B., (1967)Recent glacial history of as alpine area in the Colorado Front Range, U.S.A. I: establishing a lichen-growth curve. Journal of Glaciology 6, 817–832.Google Scholar
Beschel, R., (1961)Dating rock surfaces by lichen growth and its application to glaciology and physiology (lichenometry). Raash, G.O., Geology of the Arctic Vol. II, University of Toronto Press 1049–1062.Google Scholar
Bishop, B.C., (1957)Shear moraines in the Thule area, N.W. Greenland. SIPRE Technical Report No. 17.Google Scholar
Boyer, S.J., (1972)Pre-Wisconsin, Wisconsin, and Neoglacial ice limits in Maktak. Fiord, Baffin Island: a statistical analysis. Unpubl. M.Sc. Thesis University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Bradley, R.S., (1973)Seasonal climatic fluctuations on Baffin Island, N.W.T. during the period of instrumental records. Arctic in press.Google Scholar
Bradley, R.S., Miller, G.H., (1972)Recent climatic change and increased glacierization in the eastern Canadian Aretic. Nature (London) 237, 385–387.Google Scholar
Carrara, P.E., Andrews, J.T., (1972)The Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Part I: the late- and Neoglacial deposits of the Akudlermuit and Boas glaciers. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 9, 403–414.Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W., Johnson, S.J., Clausen, H.B., Langway, C.C. Jr., (1971)Climatic record revealed by the Camp Century core. Turekian, K.K., Late Cenozoic Glacial Ages Yale University Press 37–56.Google Scholar
Deevy, E.S., Flint, R.F., (1957)Postglacial Hypsithermal interval. Science 125, 182–184.Google Scholar
Dugdale, R.E., (1972)The Quaternary history of the northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T. Part III: the late glacial deposits of Sulung and Itidlirn valleys and adjacent parts of the Maktak-Narpaing trough. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 9, 366–374.Google Scholar
England, J.H., Andrews, J.T., (1973)Broughton Island: evidence for a Wisconsin and Holocene chronology and relative sea level changes. Boreas 2, 17–32.Google Scholar
Falconer, G., (1966)Preservation of vegetation and patterned ground under a thin ice body in northern Baffin Island, N.W.T. Geographical Bulletin 8, 194–200.Google Scholar
Falconer, G., Ives, J.D., Løken, O.H., Andrews, J.T., (1965)Major end moraines in eastern and central Arctic Canada. Geographical Bulletin 7, 137–153.Google Scholar
Frye, J.C., Willman, H.B., Black, R.F., (1965)Outline of glacial geology of Illinois and Wisconsin. Wright, H.E. Jr., Frey, D.C., The Quaternary of the United States Princeton University Press 43–62.Google Scholar
Ives, J.D., (1962)Indications of recent extensive glacierization in northcentral Baffin Island, N.W.T. Journal of Glaciology 4, 197–205.Google Scholar
Lamb, H.H., Woodroffe, A., (1970)Atmospheric circulation during the last Ice Age. Quaternary Research 1, 29–58.Google Scholar
Mears, A., (1972)Glacial geology and crustal properties in the Nedlukseak Fiord regions, east Baffin Island, Canada. Unpubl. M.Sc. Thesis University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Mercer, J.H., (1956)Geomorphology and glacial history of southernmost Baffin Island. Geological Society of America Bulletin 67, 553–570.Google Scholar
Mercer, J.H., (1972)The lower boundary of the Holocene. Quaternary Research 2, 15–24.Google Scholar
Miller, G.H., Andrews, J.T., (1972)Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, east Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada. Part IV: preliminary lichen growth curve for Rhizocarpon geographicum. Geological Society of America Bulletin 83, 1133–1138.Google Scholar
Mörner, N-A., (1969)Discussion regarding the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary. Third Bulletin of the Subcommittee Studying the Holocene INQUA 44June 1969.Google Scholar
Nichols, H., (1967)The post-glacial history of vegetation and climate at Ennadai Lake, Keewatin, and Lynn Lake, Manitoba (Canada). Eiszeitetter und Gegenwart 18, 176–197.Google Scholar
Nichols, H., (1970)Late Quaternary pollen diagrams from the Canadian Arctic Barren Grounds at Pelly Lake, Northern Keewatin, N.W.T. Artic and Alpine Research 2, 43–61.Google Scholar
Østrem, G., (1959)Ice melting under a thin layer of moraine, and the existence of ice cover in moraine ridges. Geografiska Annaler 41, 228–230.Google Scholar
Pheasant, D.R., (1971)The glacial chronology and glacio-isostasy of the Narpaing-Quajon fiord area, Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island. Unpubl. Ph.D. Thesis University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Pheasant, D.R., Andrews, J.T., (1972)Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T. Part VIII: chronology of Narpaing and Quajon fiords during the past 120,000 years. Proceedings of the 24th International Geological Congress Montreal81–88Section 12.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C., Denton, G.H., (1967)Chronology of Neoglaciation in the North American Cordillera. American Journal of Science 265, 177–210.Google Scholar
Reeves, B.O.K., (1973)The nature and age of the contact between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets in the western interior of North America. Arctic and Alpine Research 5, 1–16.Google Scholar
Seuss, H.E., (1971)Bristlecone-pine calibration curve of the radiocarbon time scale 5200 BC to the present. Olsson, I.V., Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology Wiley and Sons New York 303–312.Google Scholar
Sharp, R.P., (1949)Studies of superglacial debris on valley glaciers. American Journal of Science 247, 289–315.Google Scholar
Tanner, W.F., (1965)Cause and development of an Ice Age. Journal of Geology 73, 413–430.Google Scholar
Tarr, R.S., (1897)Difference in the climate of the Greenland and American sides of Davis' and Baffin's Bay. American Journal of Science 315–320Series 4,3 (whole No. 153).Google Scholar
Williams, J., Barry, R.G., Washington, W.M., (1973)Simulation of the climate at the last glacial maximum using the NCAR global circulation model. Occasional Paper Number 5, INSTAAR, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 39.Google Scholar